Week 02

07/03/16 Monday

I was continuing my research, looking into reading materials a tutor and I went through before uni started. I did not look for more new reading material, partially because when I did try I could not find anything of relevancy. I have identified some of the keywords of my research project:

children's comics, comics, interactive comic, interactive storyline, comic games

Hopefully using those keywords would help me further my research.

Some notes on the early reading materials that are relevant to my project:

Ozge Samanci and Anju Tewari "GPS Comics: Seeing Thru Walls" 

University of Berkeley 2010

This was an interesting idea and innovative concept. The user would walk around a designated physical parameter with a handheld device, and significant geological cues would activate an interaction with a character in the game. After a certain amount of interactivity, the application would generate a comic based on the interactions between the user and the virtual character. I quite liked this idea personally, but there was no finished product or any reviews of sort for any conclusions. This only related to my project tangentially; the use of handheld devices and the user's ability to manipulate the narrative themselves (albeit illusory) were rather similar. 

Also Scott McCloud "Understanding Comics: the Invisible Art" HarperCollins Books, 2004.

Gillian Whitlock "Autographics: The Seeing 'I' of Comics"

MFS Modern Fiction Studies, Volume 5, No. 4, Winter 2006 965-979. Published my John Hopkins University Press

This journal purposed that comics help realise the potential of comics to communicate autobiographical narratives of trauma. It focused on autobiographical comics analysis, and explained in depth the effectiveness of using comics to portray serious issues. 

The author referenced a lot from McCloud and his definition of comics; such as reading comics require closure (seeing parts but perceiving the whole), and that comics was not just the marrying of words and images, but transcended both through the use of closure. An important quote in the journal from Edward Said referenced by the author was "(comics) seemed to say what couldn't otherwise be said, perhaps what wasn't permitted to be said or imagined, defying the ordinary processes of thought, which are policed, shaped, and reshaped by all sorts of pedagogicals as well as ideological pressures... I felt that comics freed me to think and imagine differently". This was significant because it supported my view on comics not just being "kiddie flare", but something able to influence a person's way of thinking and imagination. It also advocated my argument on comics being effective in communicating any subject matter, even those dealing with trauma and war. 

The journal discussed Art Spiegelman's "Maus" and Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis" extensively as examples of autobiographies dealing in traumatic experiences. Links between the iconic character designs and situating the reader within the story were made, and lines between the visual style and its symbolism were drawn. The most essential part of the journal stated that because comics require so much from the reader, it calls for them to become a collaborator, and that they must use their own imagination to construct a coherent story. Here was another reason supporting my view on the depth of engagement when reading comics. 

I can draw links between this text and my idea. But I will have to state that "Maus" and "Persepolis" are aimed towards more mature readers, and that my project would be of darker subject matter, but aimed at children. Also I know I am not referencing these materials correctly, but I hope that is acceptable as they are just for documenting reasons.

08/03/16 Tuesday

Zak Waipara "Otea: Transmission and Transmedia"

I was given a link to an ex-student's Master's exegesis also dealing with comics and interactive games based on it. I thought it would be extremely helpful if I read through it. The abstract was clear in outlining the material's contents; which included

- A definition of transmedia

- The objections and goals of the project

- Subject matter (in this case it was related to Maori culture and mythology)

- Target audience (also children)

- Future/ long term goals (which was for others to employ and build on)

The exegesis was 86 pages long, and it was immediately daunting for me to imagine what I had to do for my own at the end of this year. However this was for a Master's degree, so perhaps it was not the level of sophistication for me to reach just yet. 

It was clear from the start that extensive and in-depth research was done in order to create this exegesis. There was already and overwhelming amount of footnotes and references made even for the origin of this project. It really dug deep into the origins of the project, going into the practitioner's personal experience in learning te reo Maori. It embodied his interest in language, and his belief that his project would advocate the learning of another foreign language. It was incredibly fascinating to learn about where the project stemmed from, and that I could also incorporate such topics in my own exegesis. 

This exegesis also provided me with a lot research material I could use in my project. I have noted down a few that could be relevant to my research:

Art Spiegelman, "Metamaus"

Henry Jenkins, "Transmedia Storytelling: Moving Characters From Books to Films to Videogames Can Make Them Stronger and More Compelling"

Henry Jenkins, "Game Design in Narrative Architecture"

Jesse Schell, "The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses"

There was hope in expanding my research. Now I had supporting materials in comics and games. There were two more areas left uncovered for me, and those were linking comics and games together and how could such a merging be appealing to children. 

Also on Tuesday I was preparing for the ZEN Presentation all honours students were required to do. It was a short 2 minute talk of an overview of our project. I, like many, hated public speaking. So I typed up what I was preparing to say for the presentation. With my refreshed and new found knowledge on comics, my first draft when read out was 1 minute and 30 seconds long. I decided to expand upon it, and ended up with a 4 minute long speech. I cut everything down to bullet points, and decided to just use those to help me go along. The presentation was Wednesday. 

Right now I have thought of using the games "The Walking Dead" and "Wolf Among Us" by Telltale Games as a reference point for comics based videogames. 

09/03/16 Wednesday

Today was the day of the Zen Presentation. I spent the morning and the night before familiarizing what I was going to say.

My presentation consisted the main focus of my project--- which was to create an engaging interactive comic aimed towards children, why I was doing it--- so children may use their imagination in the reading experience as well as learn something of value, some context; in this case I referenced a bit of Chris Riddell's illustrative work, and how I was going to produce it---- by using Photoshop, AfterEffects, X-Code or Android Studio and Flash.

I probably talked very fast because of nervousness, and I could have forgotten to mention some important points on my presentation. But I had very little time to prepare, so it was a relief that I did manage to get up and complete the presentation. By the end of the semester, I would have to do a 10 minute long presentation on what I did so far on my project.

When the presentations were done, I continued reading Waipara's exegesis. And it continued to give great examples of what a proper exegesis should look like. It was effective because the practitioner always included diagrams, screenshots of work-in-progress and flowcharts along with in-depth explanation and evaluation of what he did. There was always a few footnotes and references to support his practice. Everything also linked back to Waipara's Maori roots, which connected all the different parts of the exegesis together as a whole. It was something that he constantly referred back to: transmedia and its ability to promote the learning of Maori language and culture.

I was struggling to come up with a theme for my project. At this point I did not have a particular direction I could take. I only knew I wanted to create a comic that was a bit creepy. It was after dinner when my sister, age 11, told me how she felt there were white eyes staring at her when she was bed. I tried comforting her by explaining how our brains could frighten us when it cannot perceive anything in the darkness, and it imagines things in order to make up for that emptiness. From this I suddenly had the idea to have a theme about overcoming a certain fear. This was no fear in particular, as the feeling of creepiness came from the sensation of uncertainty, and therefore I felt like this theme would be perfect for my project. It also suited the visual style, Chris Riddell's works portrayed a sense of whimsical uneasiness. I have decided at this point the theme, and now I could use "The Nightmare Before Christmas", "Goosebumps" and "Courage the Cowardly Dog" as supporting evidence that children liked to be scared every now and then; but the purpose of my project was not to merely intimidate them with uncanny imagery, but help them overcome their psychological fear. I hope that by reading my comic, children would learn (in a non-pedantic manner) that being afraid is nothing to ashamed of, and that the dark of night is always followed by the morning light.

10/03/16 Thursday

I have finally completed reading Waipara's exegesis today. The Appendix in the last pages was where Waipara had compiled all his work-in-progress. He even went as far as going to different library events to promote his comic project. I thought this was a great idea, but in order to do so, I had to get ethical approval before I could show my project to children. I could probably let my younger sister sample my work and collect some feedback from her. But again, I took something away from this exegesis in order to further my own research. I also gathered a few more reference material that may be relevant to my project:

Luke Feldman, "Design a Flash-Based Videogame" Computer Arts Project
D. Lapp. et al., "Grapgic Novels: What Elementary Teachers Think About Their Instructional Value" Journal of Education, 192, No. 1
Tyler Weaver, "Comics for Films, Games and Animation" Taylor and Francis, 2013

11/03/16 Friday

I had an actual class today. It was a workshop on critical thinking. I felt very unsophisticated when I came out of that class. Everyone there was a year younger than me, and I felt they were all very intelligent and observant. I took a year off from uni and thus maybe caused my way of thinking to be very insubstantial and shallow. But the few exercises we did made me realize how intellectual all those youngsters were. They made great comments and pointed out many evaluations on how to be a critical thinker. I tried to contribute some of own thoughts in class, but it only made me feel severely insecure. So I would just note down what I learned from this workshop:

Critical Thinking Skills:

1) Self Regulation (reflecting on why and how I do what I do)
2) Interpretation (understanding, clarifying, decoding texts and ideas)
3) Analysis (investigating strengths, weaknesses, similarities and differences)
4) Evaluation (assessing and making judgments)
5) Inference/Synthesis (drawing reasonable conclusions, building information back up as your own)
6) Communication (articulating your findings)

Another essential part of becoming a critical thinker is being able to form a rational criteria, and applying that criteria to the theory/principle for analysis. I must also compare and contrast between the different ideas and knowledge presented in my research. Then, I would have to make my own judgments and draw my own conclusions. This lesson was valuable as it taught me to be conscious about the thought process behind all the research and learning.  

At this point I had not come in contact with my supervisor yet. I was not sure whether it was because they just forgot about me, or they did not want to deal with me or my project. Either way it was upsetting.

These drawings are irrelevant to my project. But they are from a personal comic I am planning. Here are the main characters Xiao (male, middle) and Lu (far left and far right).

Week 01

29/02/16

Today was the first day of class. A brief welcome from our faculty leader, and an overview of what was in store for us this year. I saw some new faces, and a few old ones. The task at hand then was to come up with a research question and an abstract for our projects and thesis.

I went home and thought about what I should do for this project. I had my focus on comics. I have always loved comics, and I did a comic related project in my third year of university. So naturally I would like to do something surrounding comics this year as well. but I had to step up the sophistication in both the theory and practice. Here is the list of possible research questions for my project, and a very short abstract.

Research questions:

1) How can comics be more appealing to adults?
2)Why do most adults find comics childish and how can it be changed?
3) How can interactive elements make comics more entertaining for mature readers?
4) What does a comic need in order to expand its demographic so that it also appeals to mature readers?
5) How can comics receive more more attention, and hold value for mature readers?
6) How does a comic appeal to a wider demographic through an engaging narrative and interactivity?
7) How can the potential of comics be realised and and expanded with cinematic elements and interactivity?
8) How do interactivity and narrative contribute to the appeal of a comic towards a wider demographic?
9) How can comics evoke emotional responses from a general audience with the integration of cinematic and interactive elements?
10) How do cinematic and interactive elements make a comic more engaging for an expanded audience?

Reflecting upon these questions now, I feel like I was too caught up with the notion of expanding the audience demographic for comics. I did not realise that even though it was a good thought, it also opened a lot of impediments, and areas too broad for a focused research project. It also seemed a bit shallow. I will elaborate on this later.

Abstract:

This research project will look into comics and explore the possibilities of it becoming more expansive in terms of audience demographics. This project will be an animated comic with interactive elements that will hopefully be able to appeal to a wider audience. This could be produced using Photoshop, AfterEffects and Flash. The subject matter will be related to fantasy so that both young and mature readers will enjoy. This also acts as a research possibility; looking into the innovation of comics and its subject matter, whether if they both contribute to expanding the audience demographic.

The abstract serves as an overview of the project/thesis. At this stage I was still too vague about what was going to be created. Another aspect that was lacking was the context. I had to be aware of other practitioners' work, and where my project situates in the bigger picture.

01/03/16

Tuesday was a whole day dedicated to writing. The workshop was very helpful in terms of clarifying what was required from us in the thesis and exegesis. We started off by striving to write an abstract. The process was much more tedious and draining than I expected. But I did manage to get some helpful feedback and critique from my lecturers and peers. A question that was asked of me from a lecturer was: "Why is it important that you expand the audience demographic of comics?" I have never though of this up until this point. In an honours degree, it was imperative that your project would have some kind benefit, or added to the field of practice one specialised in. What was also brought up regarding my project was, could it really be possible to promote a fantasy-genre comic to a wider audience? The lecturer who asked this pointed out that there were psychological, religous, racial and personal barriers that prevent comics to be appreciated by the masses. There were too many factors to consider, and therefore caused my project to be too broad. This caused to me reflect on my research question, and I decided to narrow down the target audience. I also realised at this point, that it was not the mature reader groups comics lacked, but the younger ones. Thus, I shifted my target to younger readers.

I also mentioned at this point, that I intended to create a comic that was able to run on multiple platforms; whether it was in print, a digital comic, or an application on handheld devices.

Research Questions (revised as of 01/03/16):

1) How can comics appeal to a younger audience through the use of interactive elements?
2) How does a comic with interactive elements create a more engaging learning experience for younger readers?
3) How can children understand complex emotions through a comic which utilises interactive elements?

Reflecting back on these questions, I realise I was struggling between the ideas of whether the act of reading a comic was educational for children, or that comics can present educational information/complex themes and emotion to children in a more effective way. I have not decided which idea to support. The first is more based on how a comic functions, and what is required of the reader in order to properly flow as a narrative; it is more dependent on how the reader learns to connect word and image in turn to perceive comics. The subject matter does not play of great significance, as the comic reading experience is already an educational process for children. 
The latter idea sits on the foundation of the first, but also integrates the themes and subject matter into the equation. It is hypothesised that children would be able to comprehend complex themes and ideas through reading comics. This is not proven and more research of the works of other practitioners is needed. I look forward to discussing this with my supervisor.

Another important change I did while writing these research questions is omit the cinematic/animated aspects of the project. I have decided to just create one functional interactive comic that can be read/played on a handheld device, instead of having the comic in all three possible forms. It can be mentioned that the comic can exist as any of the forms (print, digital, app), but I will only be creating one. 

Abstract (revised as of 01/03/16):

This project will explore how the integration of interactive elements can help create a more engaging reading experience for younger audiences. As comics require both the understanding of words and images, children may be able to learn to link these two aspects together and understand complex themes and subject matter. With a focus on how to create a comic that is appropriate, educational, and aids children in their learning process, this project will be made by means of a simple narrative structure and intricate illustrations for younger readers to comprehend and and build imagination. By the end, a well-developed interactive comic that is engaging for children will hopefully be produced.

This abstract seems to lean more towards the latter idea mentioned under the research questions. The argument presented in this abstract states that children would be able to interpret complex themes and subject matter through the use of comics. Perhaps this is the more appropriate direction to go, since it encompasses the value of learning how to read comics and also its potential to present sophisticated ideas to younger readers. I will have to consider deeper themes to incorporate into my project if I decide to go with this idea. Again, research into this area is required.

02/03/16

Wednesday's workshop continues to push us to write an acceptable abstract. The lecturers also instructed us think of a title and thesis statement appropriate for our projects. We worked in groups of four to review and critique each other's abstract. I got some very useful feedback from my peers, and I found this type of group work builds confidence and social skills. I was told by a lecturer that an anecdote could be something that would motivate me through the process. It could even be woven into the thesis/exegesis somewhere.

For me, the love of comics came from my reading room experience in high school. I love to draw, and therefore all things visual appeal to me. The first comics I read were "Nancy Drew" and the graphic novelised versions of "Goosebumps". My afterthoughts of reading them were "I could do better than these, particularly in the artistry" (this may sound very haughty, but I did discover many amazing comics when I began searching for them). I began drawing comics of my own, building worlds and creating stories of my imagination. I also became more gravitated towards manga, mainly because I found the artistic style more aesthetically pleasing. The more I created, the more I wanted to improve, to become better at what I do. I showed my comics to my peers, who all seemed to enjoy those comics, and even became invested in the stories and characters. My younger sister, especially, was so influenced by my old comics she even started to make some of her own. All these were great motivation for me continue what I was doing. Here, I realised that by noticing the impact of comics on my sister, also in turned act as an idea for my project this year: children can be engaged in a comic reading experience, and even influence them ways one would not expect.

I told this story after I read my first abstract to my group. The response for the story was positive. And here are some feedback I received from the other group members:

- State the genre of the comics simply
- A need to define what a comic actually is (I have done this in my essay for third year)
- Re-order the structure, the most important content must come first
- Flesh out what I mean; especially regarding "interactivity". One of the group members mentioned that he thought it was just going to be a simple game, with all that has to do with comics omitted. I had to explain what I had in mind to him for him to understand my concept.
- Introduce the "pick-a-path" idea I had
- Narrotology (an area I could do research on)
- Needs an opening sentence to draw in the reader
- Mention world-building perhaps?
- Impact/benefit on society

Research Question(s) (revised as of 02/03/16):

How does integrating interactive elements to a comic create an engaging and educational reading experience for children?

Thesis Statement:

1) This research project explores children's engagement in a reading experience by following and contributing to a whimsical comic narrative, in relation to ... (I do not have enough research materials to reference any practitioners yet), with a focus on communicating complex themes to children through comic reading, by means of world-building and animation in order to produce a comic that allows the target audience to manipulate its narrative and thus creating an imaginative and engaging reading experience.

2) This research project explores how children can be engaged in a reading experience by following and contributing to a whimsical comic narrative; in relation to ... focusing on comic reading as an educational process, by means of world-building and animation to produce a comic that allows its target audience to manipulate the narrative, thus involving them in a more imaginative and engaging reading experience.

Abstract (revised as of 02/03/16):

This research project explores how children can be engaged in a reading experience by following and participating to the narrative of a whimsical comic. Comics are important in a child's learning process, as it practices their understanding of the relationship the written and visual. In relation to this ... (a practitioner's work) uses comic techniques to tell a story with an abstract concept, but can be easily comprehended by younger readers. Focusing on reader involvement, the project aims to engage the reader by creating an interactive comic narrative. This means that the reader would have the ability to shape and interact with the narrative as they go along. By the end of the practice, an animated comic with a narrative that can be manipulated and enjoyed by the reader would hopefully be produced.

After reading this abstract a couple of days later, I think I was still indecisive about the two ideas mentioned earlier. I seemed to jump between the notions of reading comics as an educational process and comics can be educational by what they are able to convey. I think the solution to this may be that I address both ideas, but emphasise more on the latter one. The first can be mentioned, but can be taken further with the second idea. "Because of the unique properties that comics have (closure, image and words), they are more effective in conveying complex information, even to children." These two ideas do not contradict each other, in fact, the first actually acts as a support for the second. Maybe this is a direction to be taken

At this point I have decided that my comic, even though aimed at children, will have a heavier tone, eerie, even. Stylistic decisions will include intricate illustrations, meticulously drawn, and everything will be black and white; with some exception of colour to emphasise an idea.  

03/03/16

The library workshop was on Thursday. I learnt some important things about making my research more effective and focused. Reading a whole lot of unrelated materials is not what I want from this project.

At this point I did some light research. I did not find a lot regarding children's comics, or even existing examples of them through the academic search engines. My lecturer said it may be better to go to libraries and find real published work of children's comics. This would be the next step for me to take to begin my research.

Other things I had to consider while researching are whether or not is the material for academic purposes? Is it relevant in terms of time (is it current, has it been updated recently)? This would be applicable to older references. Also I had to be aware of the legitimacy of the reference materials, is it published by a reputable publisher? Are there positive reviews from other researchers, etc. The accuracy of the material is another essential aspect, the information provided has to be proven, free of biased opinions and grammatical error. Lastly, I need to consider the purpose of the materials; is it for academic purposes, business, or just plain entertainment?

04/03/16

Here I am, documenting all my thoughts, notes and anything I can remember from the past week of university, hoping that by doing so will assist me in the future, and not just a veneer for studying. I am going to look at existing children's comics soon, and a thesis by a past student that may be helpful for me. I feel like I'm just procrastinating, but this documentation has made clarifications for my projects, especially regarding the part about comics as an educational tool for children.

No one will ever read through all of this, but if you did, thanks for accompanying me in this journey. And this journey has only just begun.

P.S. I might add some of doodles here and there. They may not relate to my project in any way, but I would like to share my drawings so for those who do read through my ramblings get some sort if visual reward.

2016 Research Project

Hi guys, I'm back from a long break. Well, I've actually been working for my family. But anyway, in 2016, I will be starting my year in studying honours in Digital Design. Classes and lectures have begun for a week and already I can feel the pressure and intensity of this course that I have almost forgotten from my year away from studying.

But like in 2014, I will be documenting my process on this blog to help with my journey through this project. It may sound boring, but it will help me lay out my thought process in a systematic and clear way for me to reflect upon at the end of the year. It will assist me in the exegesis process of the post-graduate degree.

All in all, I am nervous but also excited about what will come up during this year. Hopefully studying further in 2016 will widen my knowledge and refine my skills in my field of practice.

Mop & Bop #006

I also have Tumblr, Twitter and Deviant Art accounts.

Rose Quartz

I love Rose from Steven Universe. She's a very kind and caring character. 

Mop & Bop #005

Another Comic Page

Introducing a new character in the comic.

Walk with Art

Our art book is now on Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/574364015/walk-with-art?ref=category_location

I am super excited to make this announcement. This is an art book that consists the illustrations of a bunch of talented friends and I did, I hope you like it!

Some Old Doodles

I haven't done anything new so... here are some old drawings I found.

I did Chang-e on the train. She's a goddess from Chinese legends.

This is a character by a Deviant artist. I did this for a competition but I didn't win. I never do.

A Completed Page

Here's a completed page from the comic I'm working on.